News archive

News archive - April-2016

Eskom’s monopoly over power supply has irrevocably ended. The advent of independent power producers (IPPs) in the renewable arena has ended this monopoly. This is the view of Brian Statham, chairperson of the SA National Energy Association (SANEA), a speaker at the Agbiz congress. “IPPs are going to become bigger and they will claim a bigger portion of the South African market,” he said. “Our energy world will change fundamentally as a result.”

It is a global trend to distribute water away from agriculture to industry and for urban use. South Africa will be no exception. With pressure on this limited resource agriculture will find itself at the back of the queue. The agricultural sector will have to come to grips with the process of water allocation. It will have to increasingly participate in the detail management of this process to get their fair share and make sure that the system works for them.

South Africa has made progress with land reform and there is now more certainty with regard to some worrying aspects. “The government is now starting to accommodate a level of flexibility in its plans,” Agbiz CEO Dr John Purchase said at the Agbiz congress.

South Africa has made progress with land reform and there is now more certainty with regard to some worrying aspects. “The government is now starting to accommodate a level of flexibility in its plans,” Agbiz CEO Dr John Purchase said at the Agbiz congress. “President Zuma’s comments on opening restitution before 1913 are, however, not helpful at all. We are also concerned about the EFF factor that can result in more land grab incidents.”